Not as Planned
by Teddi 8347
Summary: Everyone has plans. Whether it's for the day or life in general, everyone has a plan. Some plans are well thought out while others are more of a goal than a plan. But sometimes these plans don't go well with someone else's plans. And when your plans don't happen; what do you do? Do you fight it until you get what you want or do you roll with what you have? *rating might be too high


It is a beautiful very early morning in Pallet Town and a young boy name Ash Ketchum can't wait for the day to start. Today is they day he gets his starter Pokémon; a Charmander.

Ever since he was young, Ash had wanted to be a Dragon Master. He wishes to be the best there is; even better than his idol, Lance. He studied everything he can about dragon types and dragon-likes to better understand how to raise them. He even trained himself to be physically strong and fast.

The sun hasn't risen yet but Ash can't wait any longer. He puts on his "dragon trainer", as he calls it, outfit; dark shirt, pants and shoes with decorative spikes on them, and a dark, intimidating hat. He adds belts and other accessories to make it look like a dragon trainer outfit, or at least he hopes it does. In reality it looks nothing like a dragon trainer, more like a ghost or dark trainer or someone who is into Gothic culture. He doesn't have gloves but he hopes he can by some later.

Ash picks up his simple green backpack; he hopes to get a better one later, and he quietly leaves his room. His mother isn't up yet so Ash made extra careful not to disturb her. He writes a note in the kitchen, telling his mother where he is, then grabs something to eat and leaves.

'I can't believe this day is here!' Ash thought as he runs through town. 'Soon I will have my Charmander. Then I'll fish for a Magikarp and train it until it's a Gyarados. Once that's done, we'll take on Pewter City's Gym.'

Ash daydreamed of his Pokémon and what their adventure would be like. Since Kanto only has one true Dragon type Pokémon evolution line, he would have to add dragon likes to his group. Ash even knew where and how his adventure would go; He'll get Charmander form Professor Oak. Then he'll fish for Magikarp and Horsea. Then he'll go to the Safari Zone to get a Lapras and Dratini. And somewhere along the way he'll get an Amber fossil and revive it to get an Aerodactyle.

Since there isn't a gym on Cinnabar Island anymore, Ash knew he had to go to one of the lesser known gyms to get his seventh badge. In fact, the only reason he'll go to Cinnabar Island is to revive his Amber. If that wasn't the case or if there was another fossil revival place, he'll avoid the island all together. He thinks he can have this adventure over in two months, if he planned it right.

"Hey, Ashy Boy!" a voice Ash dislikes pulls him out of his daydream. Another boy, also known as Gary Oak, comes running up to Ash. "What are you doing up so early? Gramps isn't letting anyone get their Pokémon until ten, remember?"

"Professor Oak is my teacher. He might let me get Charmander early," Ash said as he tries to get away from Gary. It's no secret the two can't stand each other and would often fight. Though why they keep putting themselves in these situations is a mystery to everyone. In other words, they don't avoid these fights.

"Oh, right. I forgot you were his prized student," Gary said in a tone that says he hasn't forgotten. Ash just rolls his eyes and tries to hurry off. Gary kept in stride with Ash. "Of course he'll bend the rules for his favorite pupil when he probably wouldn't do it for his grandson."

"What do you want, Gary?" Ash all but yells at him, while turning sharply to face him. Gary stops walking but he didn't seem surprised with the sudden change. It does take him a while to answer.

"I could ask you the same thing, except I already figured it out." Ash looked unamused with Gary's answer. Gary takes a deep breath before saying, "I wanted to ask if you would like to go fishing this morning."

"You… what?" was all Ash could say. He wasn't sure what surprises him more, Gary asking to go fishing together or the way he said it; calmly, like they are friends but nervous as though he would reject the offer.

"I wanted to know if you would like to go fishing with me," Gary says with a roll of his eyes. Ash wanted to punch Gary for mocking him but that would get him in trouble and he might have to wait another year before he gets his Charmander.

Then again, is Gary mocking him? Ash didn't know. He thinks so but his mother always tries telling him to think things through before acting on it. So, should he take the offer? Why would Gary want to fish, with him?

"You want to know why I ask, right?" Gary asks when Ash didn't answer. Ash just mutely nods before wondering if Gary is feeling alright. "I just thought since you wanted a Magikarp we could have that Pokémon as our starter since the disease and the suppliers…"

"What are you talking about?" Ash interrupts Gary. He is pretty certain Gary is trying to scare him into not getting his Charmander since everyone knows he's better than Gary and Gary is scared. But Gary isn't acting like this is a joke. He actually seems… kind, almost like he is trying to break bad news by giving another option. But that's crazy… right?

"You should talk to Gramps," Gary said with his head down and shoulders slumped. Ash heard him mumble bitterly, "Like he tells me anything" while walking towards the lab. Ash wasn't sure what to make of this and wonders if the world is ending.

* * *

><p>At the lab, Gary went towards the supply closet to get fishing poles and lures. Ash follows him but stop when he saw the Pokéballs for the starter Pokémon. Ash counted them, and recounted them and recounted them again but he came up with the same answer; they are too few. Ash looked them over and is shocked to learn there aren't many fire starters.<p>

"Gary?" Ash calls out. A part of him wished this is a nightmare or they are playing a joke. But another part of him, one he doesn't want to listen to, is saying this is real. Gary looks over and sighs as he knew what Ash was going to ask.

"There was a deadly virus that hit the suppliers and killed some of the Pokémon. Then thieves attacked and got away with most of what was left. I don't know how much Gramps got from what was left," Gary explains, though he didn't want to. Everyone knows how much Ash wanted Charmander and Gary, as much as he hates Ash, didn't want to be the bearer of bad news.

"But… then…" Ash couldn't speak. He counted the Pokéballs again only to come up with the same conclusion; there aren't enough Pokémon. When Gary puts his hand on Ash to calm him down, Ash snaps. "I can't start my journey without a Charmander! How am I supposed to train my Magikarp?!"

"Ash, it's…" he wanted to say "It's alright," but Ash grabs him by the shoulders and looks him in the eye.

"Or get any Pokémon without a Charmander?!" he asks franticly. Yep, Ash is freaking out over this.

"Ash…" Gary manages to push Ash off his shoulders. But getting his attention is proving difficult.

"How can I get a Charmander?!" the over reacting boy, in Gary's mind, asks as he starts pacing.

"Ash, calm…" but Gary never had the chance to finish as Ash turns sharply to look sharply at him in the eye.

"They don't live in the wild, Gary!" the special student of Professor Oak exclaims angrily, as though Gary didn't know.

"I know…" the brown hair boy said as he rubs his head to fight off a headache. Ash started pacing again.

"And how am I supposed to enter the league without a full party?!" Ash continues as though Gary wasn't listening.

"Ash…" the grandson of Professor Oak says as he tries to get Ash's attention again. Ash ignores him and continues pacing as thoughts now enter his head.

"Would they even allow two Pokémon of the same species in one battle?!" the self-proclaim dragon specialist asks. The question causes Gary to blink as he never had thought of that before. But he had to calm Ash down before Professor Oak sees this and deny his license for upsetting the professor's prized student.

"Ash…" he tries again, this time with more annoyance in his voice. But, once again, it failed.

"This isn't part of the plan!" the raven-haired boy exclaims as though the world is going to end. To Ash, it might as well.

Gary finally had enough of being ignored that he forces Ash to stop pacing. He grabs Ash's shoulders and looks straight into his eyes.

"Pull Yourself Together, Ash!" he demands.

"But…" Ash said, trying to comprehend what just happen. But Gary won't let Ash get a word in.

"No buts. Now take a deep breath," Gary orders Ash. Seeing as how Gary isn't going to let him go, Ash did as Gary says and took deep, even breaths. Seeing Ash calming down, he asks, "Better?"

"Not really," Ash answers honestly. Both boys, against their better judgment, let a few giggles out. Then Ash looks at Gary with a helpless look and asks, "But what am I going to do?"

"Here's what _we're_ going to do," Gary says while making sure Ash is listening to him, "we're going to talk to Gramps. We'll ask him to give us our license now, as well as some Pokéballs. Then we'll ask if he could get another Charmander and Sqiurtle as soon as they become available and send them to us. Then we are going fishing and we are going to get one of those Pokémon you wanted that lives in the water. And then we are going to do our best to get back on track and look up the League's rules. You got it?"

"You mean…?" Ash started. He wasn't sure if he heard right.

"We are going to leave together," Gary clarified. Seeing Ash look shock, he smirks and says, "It wouldn't be fair if one of us got a head start while the other one waits for his Pokémon, now would it?"

* * *

><p>Professor Oak, though upset they woke him up and Gary found out about the starter Pokémon, had no problems with them fishing for their first Pokémon. However, it has to be a Pokémon they would be willing and dedicated to train and care for, no matter how hard it is. Both kids agreed to this.<p>

Ash and Gray waited to see if maybe, there is a chance they could have the Pokémon they desire. But as the time came to the end, all of the Pokémon had been picked. Even if the Bulbasaur hadn't all been picked, Ash and Gary would have not picked it anyway. Professor Oak had promised to send them their desire Pokémon once it becomes available.

Ash, depressed and disappointed, went home and told his mother what happened. While she was sad he couldn't get the Pokémon he wanted, at least he has his license in case he found one he likes. Ash was doubtful in this but he changed into his everyday clothes [the anime aside from the gloves] and went out to fish, just like Gary had suggested. They even agreed to not catching the other's catch. In other words; if Gary fished out a Magikarp or Horsea, Ash can't catch it.

"Catch anything yet?" Ash asks for the umpteenth time. The down side to this method is… how long it takes to get a bite and a good, catchable, Pokémon.

"No," Gary says with a hint of annoyance. They have been at this for an hour without a bite.

"I don't get it," Ash said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Get what?" Gary asks, trying to not die of boredom. If Ash wasn't expecting Gary to overhear that, Gary didn't see it as Ash threw his hands up to the sky.

"Today!" Ash snapped. "First, you invited me fishing, then there were no Charmamder left for me. And Now! Now we can't seem to get a bite, even though just last week at this time we were catching a lot of Magikarp!"

Gary had found it odd they weren't getting a bite, but he didn't really see the problem. So what if they're late getting a starter Pokémon? They can always catch up. He dare not say this when Ash is upset, as he didn't want to fight.

"It's like fate or something doesn't want me to be a Dragon Master!" Ash then collapses on the grass behind him. Gray does the same thing after he pulls his rod out of the river. Gary wanted to say something but he kept his mouth shut.

"You know, this has to be the longest time we hung out without fighting or bribery," Gary finally said a full thirty seconds later. Ash won't ever admit it but that revelation made him smile.

"Nice way to change the subject," he says bitterly, but with a small smile as well. It was gone before Gary could see it.

"What do you want me to say?" Gary, moving to face Ash, asks against his better judgment. "I don't believe in fate. You know that, Ash. Today has just been a coincidence that has been building up since the virus attacked the suppliers and the..."

"Quiet Gary!" Ash interrupted with a hiss while sitting up fast. This didn't sit well with Gary as he sat up as well.

"What! First you wanted…" he started, but Ash wouldn't let him finish.

"Gary!" he hissed without looking at him. At that moment, Gary realizes Ash noticed something he didn't. It's one of the oddities of Ash Ketchum; he can sense things, good or bad, before others.

"What wrong, Ash?" he asks. But the look on Ash's face told him what it is before the words left Ash's mouth; "Trouble".

* * *

><p>Ash and Gary left their fishing spot, and the rods, and hurried to wherever the trouble is. Gary was against the idea of heading straight towards trouble without letting someone know but he was just as against the idea of letting Ash head into trouble alone.<p>

"Ash!" Gary called out as he nearly tripped over a rock. "Slow down! It won't help if whatever troubles you think is going on if they know you're coming!"

"We've been over this, Gary!" Ash called back, still not slowing down. "There isn't time! And no, I can't explain why I think, no, why I KNOW that. Just, trust me on this, Okay?"

Gary thought it is strange that Ash is asking him to trust him when they usually fight over the littlest thing. And yet, today, they haven't fought at all… except when Ash was freaking out, but it was necessary. Today has to be proof the world is coming to the end. Why else would Ash ask him to trust him?

"Besides," Ash's voice call to him, bringing him out of his thoughts, "you could always go back for help."

"And not be able to prove something is wrong, let alone, not KNOW where and what the trouble is? Good idea, Ash," Gary resorted back. This time, he barely trips on a tree root and this time Ash slows down for him, though not too much. While regaining his footing, he adds, "And no, I don't think Gramps programed the Pokédex's to receive a distress signal or to send an emergency beacon to other Pokédex's in the immediate area."

"Well, there goes that plan," Ash mutters before sprinting off again. Luckily Gary is able to keep up, even if he is a fair distance from Ash. It didn't take much longer before Ash started slowing down. He motions to Gary to do the same. Gary does as he is told and he pulls out his Pokédex [the first ones] to record whatever has Ash on edge.

"Ya Stupid Rodent And Worthless Fuzz Ball!" an unpleasant voice is heard saying as well as the sounds of a whip snapping and painful cries. Both boys, still out of view, had to hold each other back, literally, or risk becoming victims themselves. They peak over a bush, with Gary pointing his Pokédex to get a good view of what they are seeing, and saw a trainer their age whipping a Pikachu and Eevee. Then the boy raises his whip on more time and says, "It's yer fault I couldn't get a license and a Charmander. I otta kill you right now."

"Don't You Dare!" Ash yells, getting up from his hiding spot. Gary followed suit and the two boys went in between the boy and the two injured Pokémon. Ash caught the whip and he angrily says, "I Won't Let You Hurt Them Any More Than You All Ready Have!"

"What do ya think yer doing?" the boy asks, a bit stun two strangers would do this. "I'm a third generation Pokémon Tamer! Yer have no right interrupting this session!"

"All I see is you abusing these Pokémon! Which is a felon," Gary says to the boy. He glances at Ash, who is still holding the whip, for a bit before going to check the injured Pokémon.

"And if we heard you correctly, you don't have a license to have Pokémon in the first place!" Ash says as he tries to yank the whip from the boy. The boy held his whip tight and refuses to let go. "And seeing how you are treating these Pokémon, I'm glad you don't have a license."

"Tamers are different from trainers," the boy snaps back. He tries to yank his whip back but Ash refuses to let go. "We tame wild Pokémon! We don't care for them!"

Ash and the tamer kept the tug-of-war going for quite a while. Neither boys are willing to back down and let the other one win. But all of this tugging is cutting into Ash's hands since he isn't wearing gloves. Ash doesn't notice this as he is too focused on protecting the Pokémon.

"We should just get these Pokémon to the lab and see if Gramps can't help," Gary whispers to Ash after checking the Pokémon. Ash barely acknowledges Gary as he was trying to make sure the boy doesn't get his whip back.

The boy, even though he couldn't hear them, knew what they are saying and he let one hand go to grab a whistle. However, this is what Ash has been waiting for and with a quick pull; he is able to the whip out of the boy's hands. He quickly puts the whip in his backpack.

"How dare ya!" the boy says angrily. He is clearly upset Ash took his whip. "First ya interrupted my taming session with my Pokémon, then ya take them from me, and now ya steal my whip! Yer will regret this!"

Ash and Gary prepare to leave but the boy isn't done yet. He blew on his whistle and in no time at all, a bunch of people on Pokémon came up. All of the people are wearing outfits associated to Pokémon Tamers; leather gloves, boots, vests and whips. Ash and Gary knew they are in trouble now.

"What's the matter, little brother?" a big guy, presumably the leader, asks the boy.

"Those two boys are trying to steal my Pokémon and whip!" the boy whines. He starts crying and the group of tamers went to attack Ash and Gary. Both boys knew they won't listen so they did the best action they could take; run.

* * *

><p>The Eevee and Pikachu, though injured, ran fast from the danger and from their saviors. Gary and Ash do their best to keep up and to think of a plan to get away from the angry mob. The angry mob has the advantage since they are riding Pokémon. It helps them by having these Pokémon attack the boys while they are running. Suddenly, the boys and the two Pokémon vanish. As the mob looks for them, Ash and Gary quietly thinks of a plan.<p>

"Okay, so maybe if we sneak off quietly, we can get out of here and to Pallet Town before they realize where we are," Ash suggests in a whisper. Gary shakes his head.

"One of the Pokémon they have is an Arcanine. I highly doubt we can fool that Pokémon for very long, let alone get to Pallet Town safely." Gary then looks at his Pokédex for a map. "But if we can find a stream, we can probably throw them off for a while longer."

"Except there aren't any streams nearby, unless you want to jump off a cliff," Ash argues, his voice still low. Gary flinches at the thought of jumping off a cliff. Ash looks at the Pokémon before pulling out his Pokédex. "Hey, maybe the Pokémon have something we can use."

"Wait!" Gary whispers harshly, once he saw what Ash was doing. "We don't know if the Pokédex comes with a volume control. It could reveal our location."

"Good point." Ash puts his Pokédex away and looks around. "We better have a plan soon. It looks like they are figuring out where we are."

"I'm trying!" Gary harshly whispers clearly frustrated with this. "But I just don't see a way we would all get out safely."

Like lightning, the group realizes the best way to escape. Both Gary and the Eevee don't like the idea while Pikachu and Ash, while scared, are willing to go through with it.

"Ash…" Gary began. But Ash stops him.

"Gary, one of us has to get the Pokémon to safety." Gary shakes his head but the look in Ash's eyes stops him from protesting.

"There is no way I can convince you otherwise, is there?" his voice, still a whisper, gave out his desperation for another way, or for Ash not to do this. Ash just gave a sad smile.

"Not unless you can stop time or teleport us out," he says as a joke. Both boys, and the Pokémon, giggles sadly at it. Ash started getting ready to distract the tamers. The problem is, Pikachu thought the same thing; he'll be the distraction while Eevee and the boys get away. Before anyone could react, Pikachu ran off.

"Pikachu!" Ash quietly calls out. He gets up, turns to Gary and orders "Get Eevee out of here!" before running after Pikachu.

"There's one of them," Gary hears someone says. He glance a peak and sees the mob going after Ash and Pikachu. Glancing at Eevee, he carefully gets up and prepares to run. The Eevee looks back at the scene before running off with Gary close behind.

"There's the other one!" another person says. Gary glance back to see half the mob chasing after him while the other half continues to chase Ash. Eevee notices this and started zigzagging. It didn't take long before Eevee and Gary loses them. Unfortunately they keep finding them after a minute and Eevee finally collapses after losing them for a fourth time.

Gary picks Eevee up and ran as fast as he could to Pallet Town. He hopes they would stop chasing them at the border but he doubts it. Hopefully his grandpa is outside and can save them. He hopes Ash and Pikachu are faring better.

* * *

><p>Ash and Pikachu aren't faring much better. They couldn't get away, even for a short while. It doesn't help when Pikachu would do anything he could to get away from Ash; no matter how much Ash says he'll protect him. A sudden attack went by Ash and hit Pikachu. Pikachu lay still on the ground.<p>

"PIKACHU!" Ash's voice filled with worry when he sees this. Running faster, he got to Pikachu's side, picks him up and headed towards the cliff. He only stopped once he reached the cliff. The tamers also see this and slowed down.

"You don't have anywhere to go kid. Why don't you just surrender and let us decide the proper punishment for you?" one of the riders says. The other tamers and their Pokémon formed a semi-circle around Ash, making escape impossible.

Ash looks around. His thoughts are filled with his dream, who he wished to be and what he saw today. Looking at the tamers, he knew they are just going to kill him. If he tries to tell them his side of the story, they'll just claim he's lying. Looking between the cliff and the tamers, he couldn't see a way out of this.

"Pika?" a weak voice calls out. Ash looks down to see Pikachu looking up at him. What got to Ash is how frighten Pikachu is. His eyes shows distrust towards him and fear to everything happening around them. Now Ash understands why Pikachu wouldn't listen when he said he'll protect him; Pikachu doesn't trust him. Thinking over everything again, Ash knew what he has to do.

"I stand by what I said to the boy you're protecting," Ash started while turning his hat backwards, "I won't let you hurt Pikachu any more than you already have!" Before the tamers and Pikachu could react; Ash jumps off the cliff.

Pikachu loses conscious on the way down, but he feels Ash's body curling into a protective ball. Pikachu semi regains conscious when the cool water hits his fur. He doesn't know how, and neither does Ash as he isn't aware of this, but Pikachu feels like he could breathe under water. He feels the boy's grip gets tighter if only not to lose him in the rough currents. Darkness finally over takes him as they head downstream.

When Ash jumped off the cliff, he was so certain he'll die on impact. He didn't want Pikachu to get hurt so he formed a ball around him. On instinct, Ash channels his life energy into a very weak protective ball. Before he hit the water, Ash wonders why he has to be so stupid by jumping in the first place. His life energy keeps flowing through him and into Pikachu, solely on his desire to keep Pikachu alive. Of course Ash doesn't know this.

'Of course there's Pokémon in this river, now that I can't catch them,' Ash bitterly thought. He is trying to not think about how lightheaded he feels, how much his hands hurt or how the tamers are still looking for him. And nearly getting eaten by a Gyarados distracted him from these thoughts easily. But whether he knew this or not, Ash needed to come out and the fishing line his bag snagged on is the best way to come out.

* * *

><p>Professor Oak rubs his head as he finishes checking the Eevee his grandson brought. Hearing his grandson calling for help had been alarming. Seeing his grandson running from an angry mob of tamers was frightening. Not wanting his grandson hurt, he sent out his Charizard causing the tamer to flee before he could find out what was happening. But seeing Gary holding a badly beaten Eevee in his arms had been the most concerning of all.<p>

"Grandpa?" Professor Oak turns to see Gary leaning against the doorway. Running as fast and as hard as he did, for who knows how long, Gary shouldn't be walking around just yet. "How's Eevee?"

"Eevee would be just fine. You got her here just in time," the Pokémon professor says with a sigh. Gary looks relieved to hear this. Still, the professor is having a hard time figuring out what happened, and why his grandson had an angry mob chasing him. "Gary, what happened?"

Gary freezes upon hearing his grandfather asking that question. He knew his grandfather would be worried for Ash, once he finds out, and would probably blame him for what happened. But he felt he shouldn't lie about what happened either. Perhaps he should wait until later, but Ash needs help.

"I'll tell, but you have to promise to wait until I'm done before asking question. I don't know if I could keep talking if…" Gary trailed off, not feeling well enough to continue. He pulls out his Pokédex and hands it to his grandfather. "Ash and I were fishing for our starter. We couldn't catch a bite and Ash was complaining about fate hating him before he felt something wrong. I knew we should have gotten help but I didn't want to leave Ash alone and he kept insisting it would be too late and…"

"Gary, calm down," Professor Oak says. He tries to get Gary to at least sit down but Gary refuses.

"We saw a boy our age beating two Pokémon with a whip and Ash went and caught that whip and the boy called for his clan and they chased us and we got away but they were still nearby and we realized the only way to escape was for one of us to be a distraction and Ash volunteer but the Pikachu ran off and I had to get Eevee away but I don't know what happened to Ash," Gary all but ranted in one breath before he finally collapses. He doesn't like Ash, but he didn't want him dead, either.

Professor Oak had been silent while Gary ranted what happened. Professor Oak saw the Pokédex is still recording but he didn't tell Gary. The boy had been through a lot and there are more important things that need to be done.

"Gary?" The boy, trying not to cry, looks at his grandfather when he called his name. "I need you to stay here and rest. I'm going to find out what happened to Ash and… what Pokémon did you say it was?"

"Pikachu. It was a Pikachu and it was in the same condition as Eevee." Gary saw, but later claimed he was tired and was seeing things, his grandfather eyes lit up in recognition. He also saw his grandfather recognize something but Gary can't tell what that is.

"Just rest. I'll find Ash and Pikachu." Gary watches his grandfather walk out of the room. As Gary lay down in Eevee's bed, and as Professor Oak calls up the police, both thought at the same time, 'Please don't be dead, Ash.'

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, at the stream, an eleven year old girl is fishing in the stream Ash had jumped in. Her line pulled and she thought she caught a bite. Her excitement died down when she realizes it's just a boy holding a Pikachu. Perhaps it's another fanstalker, trying to get her attention.

Except neither boy nor Pokémon where moving. Now worried, the girl carefully approaches them. She sees cuts all over the Pikachu's body, still open and bleeding. The Pikachu is also heavily hurt by Pokémon attacks. At first she thought the Pikachu is dead until she saw it breathing. Thinking how lucky the Pikachu is to still be alive, she turns her attention to the boy. She sees cuts on the boy's hands; one of the hands has a deep cut and is bleeding heavily. The boy is also breathing, though barely.

Working quickly, the girl went through her bag and pulls out a near empty first aid kit. Grabbing what she needs, the girl wraps up the boy's hand to try to stop the bleeding. She thought about wrapping up the Pikachu but it would probably fry the gauze/bandages. It isn't design for Pokémon. A groan from the boy causes her to jump back.

"What? I'm alive?" the boy mumbles to himself. He quickly, though carefully, sat up. "Pikachu! Come on, buddy, wake up."

"Pika?" a weak, but audible voice squeaks. The girl is relieved to see it awake but upset it's even in this state in the first place.

"Oh, thank whoever is in charge of life," the boy breathed in relief. "Just stay with me a little longer. I promise no one is going to hurt you again."

"Excuse me?" the girl says to get the boy's attention. She got his attention, but his reaction is something she wasn't expecting; he got the Pikachu closer to his body and looks like he is going to attack her if she makes the wrong move.

"You are not going to hurt Pikachu!" he all but yells.

"What makes you think I'm going to hurt it?" she asks, almost offended. 'So, maybe he isn't the one responsible for its injuries,' she thought. "I took care of your hand, in case you haven't noticed."

"Huh?" the boy looks a little lost at her comment. He looks at his hand and sees one wrapped up, though it looks like it needs to be changed soon. He looks at it confused before wondering out loud, "How did I get that?"

"You don't know?" she asks. To her, it doesn't make sense he wouldn't know how he got such a deep wound. Then again, she doesn't know how the Pikachu got into the state it's in.

"I was too busy trying to protect them from an abusive tamer. I don't know where…" the boy trailed off as he nearly loss conscious. The girl quickly catches him and lays him down.

"Tell me later. I have got to get you two to the Pokémon Center," she says as she puts her things away. She stops when she thought she heard the boy say something. "Did you say something?"

"Yeah, I'm Ash," he says, a little louder than before. "And I'm being chased by a mob of tamers, just so you know."

"Oh! That explains Pikachu's wounds a bit," the girl says before clearing her throat. "My name's Misty and I fished you out."

"Thanks… I guess." Seeing Misty getting upset with that, Ash quickly adds, "It's not you, it's that I'm being chased by an angry mob of tamers and I think it might have been best had I not been fished out. In case they're still after me." After a while of silence, he asks, "So what are you doing?"

"I'm preparing my bike," Misty answers while going through her bag. Seeing Ash's confusion, she elaborates; "I have a basket up front; we can put Pikachu in there. But you are in no condition to ride this yourself and I'm not strong enough to carry you to Viridian City myself. I have a back rack in case I need to carry something my basket can't hold. I just hope it works."

Ash wanted to complain. He wanted to ride the bike by himself. He wanted Pikachu to be safe. But he knew he couldn't be the one to save him in this state. Misty is right; he isn't well enough to ride the bike himself. But she is. Maybe, since they are after him and not Pikachu, he hopes, she could take Pikachu to the Pokémon Center instead.

"Hey, Ash?" Misty's voice cuts through his thoughts. Once she notices she has his attention, she says, "And don't think you can convince me to leave you here. I need you to explain what happened to the nurse and officers." And just like that, his plan is ruin.

"There He Is!" a voice calls out. Tamers riding on flying Pokémon's back have spotted them and are closing in.

"Come on, Ash," Misty says as she tries to help him up. It is hard for Ash as he feels like blacking out. They put Pikachu in the basket and Misty helps Ash onto the back rack. Once he is secured and she is seated, she says "Hang on," and pedals as fast as she could to avoid the tamers.

The tamers, though pretty far, are hot on their trail and getting closer. With a storm rolling in, the ones in the air are having a bit of trouble as the winds have picked up and the lightning is flashing dangerously. The ones on fire Pokémon started having trouble once it starts raining hard.

Misty is having trouble with the road as it is getting too slippery for the wheels to grip. The tamers saw they don't have time to continue chasing them like this so they let their Pokémon attack the path ahead. Misty is able to dodge most of those attacks but one of them hit another and it causes a blast she wasn't ready for. Pikachu, Ash and Misty went flying as the tamers slow down their pursuit.

Ash hadn't lost conscious when he landed, though every part of his mind says he should have. He crawls to Misty, who is trying to get up. He also crawls to Pikachu to make sure he is still alive.

"Pika?" the little mouse squeaks as Ash and Misty approaches. Pikachu heard the lady and Ash talking after semi-waking up earlier, so he knows her name and she means no harm. He still isn't sure about Ash. Yeah, he saved him many times that day and tried so hard to keep his word, but he is still a human and humans hurt Pokémon.

"Pikachu," Ash says. Looking straight into his eyes, Pikachu saw something, special about him. He can't say what it is, just special. By now Misty is by their side and Ash spoke, "I know I promised no one is going to hurt you again and I intend to keep that. But I can't get you help, not with these guys after me."

"Ash? What are you saying?" Misty asks. Pikachu looks at Ash confused until it clicked; Ash is going to surrender. It seems Misty knows as well as she is about to protest.

"Please don't, Misty. We both know they're after me and Pikachu needs help. You are the only one who can get him help. Please make sure he gets the life he wants." Ash went to get up but Misty held him back.

"Don't you even dare!" she says. Her voice might have sounded angry but her eyes show she is worried. "Pikachu knows you better than me. And I can't tell anyone what happened! I don't know what happened and why they are after you!"

"Last chance kid; surrender and face punishment or die where you stand," one of the tamers says. Misty looks afraid but Ash puts his hands on her shoulder. He forces her to look at him and not the tamers and their pretty intimidating Pokémon.

"Talk to Gary Oak, in Pallet Town. He knows," he says to Misty as he looks around one last time. The tamers aren't looking too happy but they haven't completely surrounded them. His blood has soaked through the gauze and left some on Misty's shoulder. The loss of blood worries Misty and Pikachu but Ash doesn't seem fazed by it. "And when you meet him, tell him I was joking about jumping off the cliff."

Ash stood up and walk towards the tamers. Misty picks up Pikachu and started leaving as well. Pikachu forces to stay awake and to see over Misty's shoulder. The tamers didn't seem to care there was a young woman carrying an injured Pokémon who saw them and could report them to the police.

"You going to come quietly, kid?" the tamer, possibly the leader, asks. Ash doesn't say anything right away. He looks behind him one last time to see if Misty and Pikachu are getting away. Satisfied they are far enough away, Ash looks at the tamers.

"[enter inspiring speech here]," his voice is firm and filled with determination while his body standing tall despite the tamers' threatening Pokémon ready to tear him into shreds. Lightning fills the sky when Ash was done talking, as though the very storm is agreeing to what he says.

"Pretty good speech, kid. But it won't save you from your punishment. And since you refuse to come quietly, I guess we'll have to make you come if it doesn't kill you first," the tamer says as the Pokémon got ready to attack. He barely had time to register something small climbing him and jumping off his shoulder before the storm strike in front of him and explodes. Before the world went dark, Ash could have sworn in the blast was Pikachu.

Misty wasn't too far when Ash made his speech, just far enough away so she could see what is happening without anyone seeing her. She and Pikachu heard his speech and are amaze just how much Ash is willing to stand up and fight for the rights and wellbeing for Pokémon and humans alike that he refuses to back down from injustice even though it could kill him. For Pikachu, it was showing something he can't describe other than special. Yes, Ash is special and pure and Pikachu felt like he should protect him. Ash fought hard to save him, why can't he save Ash?

Pikachu ran as fast as he could to Ash. To him, time seems to have slowed down tremendously with the Pokémon moving even slower than he is. He sees Ash not flinching at the Pokémon attacking him. Pikachu doesn't know what he is doing but at the same time he knew what he is doing. Climbing Ash and jumping off his shoulder, Pikachu called forth the power of the storm to lend him its power. The lightning in the storm all went into his small body. Pikachu stored as much as he could before it explodes out, blasting everyone caught out. Then the world went black.

"Pikachu?!" the young woman asks is alarm as Pikachu pushes away from her. She is surprised to feel how strong Pikachu is despite it being seriously injured and, in no doubt, serious pain. She is even more surprised to see Pikachu moving so fast, before she had to shield her eyes from the bright light. Her ears ring so bad after the explosion and the shockwave causes her to lose her footing. When she got up, she saw a charred field, blown down trees and some of the tamers getting up.

"That Blasted Kid!" one of the tamers says as they look at the field. "First he and that other boy steals one of our young one's Pokémon and whip, then he and the other boy runs off and split and now this."

"You can't blame the explosion on the kid," another tamer says. "That was the force of nature and I highly doubt the kid has control on nature."

"You know what I mean!" the first tamer says. "If the kid had come quietly the first time then this wouldn't have happened!"

"Yeah, well he didn't," a third tamer says. "Let's just grab the kid and the others and go. We can decide his punishment when he wakes up."

Misty had been creeping closer to Ash and Pikachu and is in the process of trying to wake them up. But with their injuries and everything they've been through, Misty's no doctor but she believes they are lucky to still be alive. She hears the tamers agreeing to take Ash away. A part of her wants to run and get help but then it would be too late. But she can't fight them either. However, it seems one part of her wouldn't listen to reason.

"Don't you dare touch him!" she yells as she gets ready to send out her Pokémon. Some of the "awake" tamers are stun to see this but a few dare to laugh about it.

"And what are you going to do, young lady? Battle us?" one of the tamers laughs. "Besides, this is none of your business. So why don't you just forget this happened and go on your way?"

"Because I'm making it my business," Misty snaps still ready to send out her Pokémon. "And if you have a problem with that then too bad!"

Before anyone can resort to her outburst, Ash and Pikachu wakes up. "Misty? What's going on?" he asks.

"Ash, stay behind me," is all Misty is willing to tell him. Ash doesn't argue, instead he takes in his surroundings and got closer to Misty, with Pikachu in his arms. Misty turns her attention back to the tamers. "I'll say this once; you are NOT getting him!"

"Suit yourself," the presumably leader of the tamers says. "Attack!"

"SCREECH!" a loud screech cuts through the air like thunder after lightning. Before the battle began, it ended in a flash of golden flames.

"What is going on?" someone asks. Misty wasn't sure who since the golden flames block her view. She is also covering her face to block the heat of the flames, though for some reason it doesn't hurt like she thought it should. Misty could no longer hear the tamers over the roar of the fire.

The golden flames grew higher and more intense to the tamers. By now, all of the members, Pokémon included, are awake. Some of the Pokémon tries using water moves to douse the flames but the flames grew higher.

The tamers retreat before they became victims of this fire. They figure if the boy haven't left by now, well, then he's charcoal. If he somehow survives the flames, they swear to chase him until he faces justice. The tamers head back to report to their bosses about what happened.

Misty watches as the flames began to die down. She is surprise to see the flames backing down by themselves. She had been debating whether or not to use her Pokémon to battle the flames. She knows they aren't strong enough to battle the flames. But now they aren't in danger of the flames, Misty puts her Pokéball away. However, when she turns to face Ash and Pikachu, she saw something she wasn't expecting.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hello everyone, Teddi here with yet another Pokemon story I am probably never going to finish. I hope to write up to chapter three before then. If anyone who has the time would like to beta read this story, please feel free to ask. I am going to ask for a different beta reader for each of my stories so I don't clutter their computer.<strong>

**Now that's over, please look into my profile for disclaimers. I hope you enjoy this.**

**I know, I got lazy at the end. I couldn't think of an inspiring speech Ash could say as he faces death that won't sound stupid, or reveal too much. If anyone has any idea, please tell me and if I like it, I'll put it in. **

**As you can see, this is Ash wanting to be a type master but didn't get the Pokemon he wanted. You'll have to wait and see if he fulfills his desire/dream. Stay tuned for chapter two.**


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